Poor weather has played havoc with all of baseball this spring, as postponements and hostile conditions have had their effect, even in the minor leagues. The conditions aren’t the only thing that was hostile this week, as tempers flared in Daytona, resulting in an ejections and suspensions. Kane County can’t seem to do things easy as they played their fourth extra inning game of the season. Tennessee ended a four game losing streak with excellent back-to-back pitching performances by Eric … [Read more...]

Welcome to The CCO’s Thursday addition of Down on the Farm. In today’s report, Kane County records their first wins of the season thanks to OF Bijan Rademacher. Jorge Soler and the Daytona Cubs flexed their muscles against Brevard County. Tennessee dropped a tight pair of games to Pensacola, despite the efforts of Jae-Hoon Ha and Matt Szczur. And Iowa continued to scuffle in Round Rock, as they remain winless for the season. … [Read more...]

Welcome everyone to a new minor league season. This week, pitching seemed to be the word in Tennessee as their staff struck out 38 batters in the first three games. Daytona also received excellent pitching performances from Starling Peralta, Yao-Lin Wang, and Frank Del Valle. However, things are a struggle in the early going for Kane County and Iowa. … [Read more...]

The Tennessee Smokies released their 2013 Opening Day roster on Tuesday. The Smokies open the season on Thursday, April 4 in Pensacola against the Blue Wahoos. Buddy Bailey will call the shots for the Smokies this season. Jeff Fassero (pitching coach), Desi Wilson (hitting coach) and Carlos Figueroa round out Bailey’s coaching staff.
The Smokies’ roster features several of the top prospects in the Cubs’ system including Arismendy Alcantara, Matt Szczur, Tony Zych, Alberto Cabrera, Trey … [Read more...]

Spring Training Game Thirty-Five – Cubs 9, Royals (ss) 9
WP – None LP – None Save – None
The Cubs were down 8-2 going into the eighth inning on Wednesday night in Surprise. The Cubs scored five runs in the eighth and cut Kansas City’s lead to 8-7. The Royals added a run in the ninth but the Cubs scored two more runs in the ninth to send the exhibition game into extra innings. Neither team could push across a run and the game was called after 10 innings. For the first time this spring, the … [Read more...]

Minor League Preview: Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa
Good Morning to everyone at the CCO! Today is the last of a three part installment previewing the 2013 minor league season. We will be discussing each level’s strengths, weaknesses, and things to look for. Please note that the previews are based on current roster assignments and anticipated Spring Training success. All assignments, both as to position and level, are subject to change pending the completion of Spring Training. … [Read more...]

Spring Training Game Twenty-Eight – Cubs (ss) 4, Dodgers 5
WP – Stephen Fife (2-0) LP – Scott Feldman (0-3) Save – Sean White (1)
The Cubs and Dodgers squared off for the fourth and final time this spring on Thursday afternoon … and the Cubs could not dodge another spring loss to Los Angeles. The Cubs finished with a 1-3 record against the Dodgers in the Cactus League.
The two teams made the trip from the valley to Tucson to play in the annual Christina-Taylor Green charity game, … [Read more...]

Spring Training Game Twenty-Three – Cubs (ss) 8, Royals 3
WP – Hisanori Takahashi (1-1) LP – Bruce Chen (1-1) Save – None
While Jeff Samardzija was the story in Las Vegas, the Cubs bats were the show at HoHoKam Park on Saturday afternoon. The Cubs completed the split squad sweep with a spring win over the Royals behind five home runs off the bats of Javier Baez, Alfonso Soriano, David DeJesus and Alberto Gonzalez.
Javier Baez (2-for-3 with two home runs and two RBI) put on a show for … [Read more...]

Five Players to Watch: Low-A Kane County and High-A Daytona
This is the second in a series of articles highlighting some of the players not noted on off-season prospect lists. The players are listed in alphabetical order, and as they are presently listed on rosters. Inclusion in this list does not necessarily reflect where each player will start the season.
The last report focused on five players in Rookie Ball and Short-Season A-Ball to watch during the upcoming season, next up are players … [Read more...]